1 lit. why use a pole-ax to slaughter a chicken? (idiom)
2 fig. to waste effort on a trifling matter
3 also written 殺雞焉用牛刀|杀鸡焉用牛刀[shā jī yān yòng niú dāo]
呼牛作马
hū niú zuò mǎ
1 to call sth a cow or a horse (idiom); it doesn't matter what you call it
2 Insult me if you want, I don't care what you call me.
呼牛呼马
hū niú hū mǎ
1 to call sth a cow or a horse (idiom); it doesn't matter what you call it
2 Insult me if you want, I don't care what you call me.
土牛木马
tǔ niú mù mǎ
1 clay ox, wooden horse (idiom); shape without substance
2 worthless object
多如牛毛
duō rú niú máo
1 as many as the hair of the ox (idiom)
2 great amount of
3 countless
对牛弹琴
duì niú tán qín
1 lit. to play the lute to a cow (idiom)
2 fig. offering a treat to an unappreciative audience
3 to cast pearls before swine
4 caviar to the general
5 to preach to deaf ears
6 to talk over sb's head
小试牛刀
xiǎo shì niú dāo
1 to give a small demonstration of one's impressive skills (idiom)
带牛佩犊
dài niú pèi dú
1 to abandon armed struggle and return to raising cattle (idiom)
心有灵犀一点通
xīn yǒu líng xī yī diǎn tōng
1 hearts linked as one, just as the proverbial rhinoceros communicates emotion telepathically through his single horn (idiom); fig. two hearts beat as one
杀牛宰羊
shā niú zǎi yáng
1 slaughter the cattle and butcher the sheep
2 to prepare a big feast (idiom)
气喘如牛
qì chuǎn rú niú
1 to breathe heavily like an ox (idiom)
2 to huff and puff
汗牛充栋
hàn niú chōng dòng
1 lit. enough books to make a pack-ox sweat or to fill a house to the rafters (idiom); fig. many books
泥牛入海
ní niú rù hǎi
1 lit. a clay ox enters the sea (idiom); fig. to disappear with no hope of returning